When Henry Met Toni Series
by MaddieStJ
Summary: Just as the title says. First up, Applesauce and Summer in the City.
1. Applesauce

Title: Applesauce  
Author: MaddieStJ  
Rated: K  
Category: General  
Keywords: Henry/Toni/Other Original Characters from the Pinned Universe  
Spoilers: None  
Summary: When Henry Met Toni  
Disclaimer: _Ugly Betty_ is the property of Silent H Productions, Reveille and Ventanarosa, and Touchstone Television.

Notes: This story is the beginning of the Series "When Henry Met Toni." This is collaboration between VesperRegina and myself that we started a while back. We will be producing alternating chapters and posting them as we can.

We plan to have a good time. We hope you will too. Let us know.

Chapter One

**Applesauce**

_New York, New York_  
_A helluva town_  
_The Bronx is up and the Battery's down_  
_The people ride in a hole in the ground_  
_New York, New York_  
_It's a helluva town!_

A flock of pigeons jockeying for position over some food crumbs on the grass scattered like confetti in the wind toward a cloudless late afternoon sky upon the approach of a lone figure coming from across a small bridge. Finding a bench, the figure sat down, stretched his arms across the back of the bench, took a deep breath, exhaled and grinned widely.

Looking around, he said to himself, "Central Park. 843 acres, used to be a sheep meadow, opened in 1859: about 25 million visitors a year. Landscape designer Frederick Law Olmsted and architect Calvert Vaux, who went on to collaborate on Brooklyn's Prospect Park, designed the park. It's been a National Historic Landmark since 1963."

"A world away from the desert that is beautiful in itself, and what I'm used to. But it's seasonal here and I believe I will enjoy it." He remembered he'd set aside one month to play tourist and find a place to live before he started his new job at Meade Publications. He'd been in New York for two weeks He was staying with Adam Wolfwalker, his best friend since they were eight years old, in his Brooklyn apartment. They had kept in touch all through college (he had gone to the University of Arizona and Adam had gotten into Columbia) and Adam had graciously extended an invitation for him to stay with him when the position at Meade materialized. So he packed up what he needed in several suitcases. He carefully labeled the luggage tags, attached them and set the suitcases aside. He had already sent his favorite cartoon DVD collections to Adam. It had taken him awhile to make his selection but in the end he chose –_Mighty Mouse_ – the original NOT the Ralph Bakshi version, _Danger Mouse, Jonny Quest, Thunderbirds_ –the mega set, of course, and _I Spy_ and _Have Gun Will Travel_. He liked the Robert Culp/Bill Cosby humor and coolness. And he liked the secret agent/spy/espionage/rescue aspects. He didn't care if they lost his luggage, and not that he didn't trust the airlines, but he drew the line at how his DVDs got to New York.

He had explored Brooklyn and was exploring the other boroughs via the subway. He and Adam had even taken in a couple of baseball games – Diamondbacks vs. the Mets, of course. They'd gotten seats along the first base line courtesy of a friend of Adam's from college who was working in Sports at WABC.

"If I'm at Meade long enough, I can write my own job ticket." He considered. "Maybe I'll do something in Europe. I'm close to it on this coast. A vacation to London or Paris or Barcelona would be nice." A wealth of ideas, opportunities and other miscellaneous things began to open up in front of him.

He and Adam had talked about going to New York off and on for many years, but when the time came, Adam went and he had stayed behind to help out his mother. His mother wanted him to go with Adam (he had gotten into NYU), but he knew once he went to New York, it would be a while before he'd be able to come back home for a visit to Tucson. So, he'd earned a BS, an MBA, played NCAA baseball and basketball with University of Arizona all the while working part time in the accounting area for Sunshine Media and then full time after college.

While in college, he'd gotten involved with and begun seriously dating a woman. She was vivacious and creative and made him smile. He knew his mother was not all that keen on her, but what he loved about his mother, was that she always encouraged him and let him make his own way, and he and his girlfriend continued as a couple.

Midway through the second year in his job at Sunshine, he began to get bored. Adam's letters had rekindled in him a desire to go to New York. His silence and half hearted bits of conversation at the dinner table led his mother to question him and then urge him to 'go, get on with your life' and he decided to test the waters and look for a job in New York. He talked over his plan with his girlfriend, who seemed only mildly interested, but he was on a quest and didn't seem to notice her reluctance.

In May, he received a job offer from Meade Publications. It seemed his boss and the CFO from Meade had gone to college together and his boss had written him a glowing letter of recommendation.

He called his girlfriend from work to tell her his news; then called his mother. When he got home from work, his mother was just as excited as he was and they spent at least two hours alternately hugging each other and exclaiming over his good fortune.

While the reception from his mother was wonderful, the reception from his girlfriend was less than. She did not think the job was wonderful news. She did not want to leave Tucson, especially not for New York. She did not want him to leave Tucson or her. She cited crime, dirt, crazy people, subways, crackheads, crowds, strangers and a number of myriad things.

Throughout her tirade, he looked at her with new eyes. And the eyes were disappointed with what they saw. She yelled. She cried. He asked her one more time to come with him. And she refused. She cried some more, but he was ready for something new...and…she wasn't. And while he was sad to leave her, that as they say was that. One his way home, he wondered about her lack of a sense of adventure. He felt his destiny was elsewhere and New York was just as good a place as any to start his quest.

Two weeks later found him in New York on Adam's couch and his belongings in a storage locker.

"So much for musing on my past," he thought. He took a deep breath and looked at his watch. Time to meet Adam and his friend Donn for dinner.

Standing up, he looked around the park – at the joggers, the cyclists, and people just strolling along enjoying the early evening weather - and laughing out loud, he jumped up in the air, pumped his fist and yelled, "Yes!"

Sheepishly, he looked around, smiled to himself and nodded.

_Yes._

Humming to himself, Henry Kit Grubstick, 26 1/2, 6'0, 185lbs, brown hair, brown eyes, 20/80 vision, dry sense of humor, lover of trivia, cooking, sports and cartoons, affinity for sweaters, sweater vests, and outlandishly cool T-shirts and hoodies, adjusted his glasses on his nose, and brushed his hand down the front of his Giant Robot hoody.

Shoving his hands into his pockets, Henry headed toward the exit at Central Park West and into the beginning of the best and wildest adventures of his life.

_New York, New York_  
_A helluva town_  
_The Bronx is up and the Battery's down_  
_The people ride in a hole in the ground_  
_New York, New York_  
_It's a helluva town!_


	2. Summer in the City

Title: Summer in the City  
Author: Vesper (Regina)  
Warnings: T, some innuendo  
Category: General/Humor  
Characters: Henry Grubstick, Toni Katznelson  
Spoilers: None  
Summary: When Toni met Henry.  
Disclaimer: Ugly Betty is the property of Silent H Productions, Reveille and Ventanarosa, and Touchstone Television. The story is mine.  
Archival: If you wish to archive, please link to my website, or my Livejournal post. Please keep all my headers intact.  
Notes: Second in the "When Henry Met Toni" series, written by myself and MaddieStJ. Toni Katznelson is used with her gracious permission. Thanks! Title and lines used from "Summer in the City" sung by The Lovin' Spoonful.

* * *

Toni lifted her hair from her neck, gathering it into a hand-held ponytail, in a semi-futile effort to cool down. The summer heat clung to everything with moist, sticky fingers and even the short distance from her work to home was enough to make her wish fervently that she could crawl into a freezer and stay there. She sighed, dropped her hand, and pressed the up button on the elevator one more time.

She just wanted to get home, sit down, cuddle her dogs and eventually get herself something to eat. A cool shower wouldn't go amiss, either.

Finally, finally, the elevator doors opened and she'd almost stepped in when she heard, "Hold the elevator! Please!"

Curious, she put a hand on the door and waited for the man. He jogged up to her, arms loaded down with two tall boxes, completely obscuring his face. He hustled past her, hurriedly trying to press the button for his floor without letting go of his boxes. Toni stepped in, reaching past him to press her button, just as he gave up the awkward struggle and set the boxes down on the floor. He straightened up, pressing his button on the way.

Out of breath, he took a moment to lean against the wall and push the hair that had flopped over his forehead out of his way. He said, "Thanks," on a huff of air and re-settled the black-rimmed glasses that were sitting crooked on his nose.

Toni smiled and said, "No worries."

He just waved a hand in a 'wait-for-it' gesture as he concentrated on catching his breath.

Toni glanced at the boxes. She asked, "Moving in?"

He said, "Just. Last ones."

"You'll like it here."

He'd finally gotten control of his breathing. He said, "I know I will, once I get past how _wet_ it is outside. Is it always like this?"

"It's summer in the city; what else can you expect?"

"'Back of my neck gettin' dirty and gritty,'" he half-said, half-sung and then grinned. The face that Toni had been considering not half-bad, despite the desperate need for a hair-cut and those heavy, obscuring glasses was instantly up-graded to 'pretty darn nice'.

He said, "I'm used to much drier heat." He held out his hand and said, "By the way, I'm Henry. Henry Grubstick."

Toni held back a giggle, settling for a small smile. She shook Henry's hand and said, "Toni Katznelson."

Henry said, "That's a mouthful."

Toni countered, smiling more widely, "You're one to talk."

He smiled, not fazed in the least, and said, "Don't I know it."

The elevator chimed. The doors opened. Toni asked, pointing at the boxes, "Do you want any help?"

He said, "The boxes I can handle, but if you'll just hold the door for me while I look for my keys...?"

Toni nodded and watched as Henry dug around in his pants pocket for a second. A look of panic crossed his face and he said, "Oh, no."

"What?"

"I think...crap, I locked my keys in the apartment."

He turned to the wall of the elevator and thumped his forehead softly against it.

Toni, bemused, said, "I don't think it's the wall's fault."

Henry turned back to her and said, with an air of doom, "This day has not gone well. I don't suppose you know if the super is in? You live here, right?"

"Yes, to the latter, and no, to the former. Meaning, she's not in."

"It just keeps getting better and better."

Toni laughed and said, "Define better."

His mild glare was pointed enough for Toni to relent and take pity. She said, "I have an idea. Bring your boxes up to my apartment. They'll be safe there."

"What are you going to do?"

Toni dropped her hand, allowing the elevator to continue on up.

"You'll see."

"Oh?"

They rode in silence for a few seconds and then Henry asked, "So how long have you lived here?"

"Long enough to learn a few tricks."

He raised his eyebrows. "Oh, really."

"Yes, really."

"And it's one of these tricks that's going to get me back into my apartment?"

"Yes, it should."

"Intriguing."

Toni laughed.

"What?" Henry asked.

"Just...have you ever watched _Star Trek_?"

"Yes, but--oh, I get it. Commander Data."

"Yeah. Data."

Henry shook his head and started to say something, only to be interrupted by the chime of the elevator.

Henry leaned over to pick up his boxes and Toni waited for him. Once she saw that he was ready she said, "Follow me."

Henry's voice came from behind the boxes, "Okay. Just say stop when I need to."

Toni smiled to herself and set off toward her door. Henry followed behind. He said, "Just for the record, I'm not that much of a geek."

Toni said, "I never said you were. But, you did get it."

"Hey, I resent that."

Toni tried to figure out if he was joking or not, but his tone was too dry for her to do so. So she went with the safe response, "My apologies. We're here."

Henry stopped immediately.

Toni unlocked her door and Henry peeked around the boxes.

Toni said, "Welcome to Casa Katznelson. Mind my babies."

"What?" Henry asked and then staggered, barely holding onto the boxes as he was rushed by two very enthusiastic retrievers. They danced around him, trying, it seemed, to lick every inch of his hands.

Toni calmly said, "Ozzie, Gibson, heel."

The dogs sat on their haunches at once and stared at the newcomer with identical expressions of curiosity.

Henry carefully set his boxes down inside the door and said, "They're beautiful."

Toni beamed. "Thanks. Umm, I'll be right back. Couch is that way," she pointed to the right, "if you want to sit down."

"Thanks. I will."

Toni disappeared somewhere, followed by her dogs.

Henry made his way over to the couch, taking in the similarities and differences to his own loft.

His eye was drawn to the large west windows, seeing a artist's easel there, with a canvas covered by a large paint-spattered cloth. He by-passed the couch to get a closer look at the walls, seeing a few unframed canvases hung there.

Toni came back just as he drew near to one of them. He said, "You painted this."

"Yes," she said, "I dabble, at least."

"Oh, I'd call it more than dabbling. I like them. I've seen this style before, but I've never known what it's called."

Toni blushed, pleased, and answered, "Gullah."

"What?" He absently asked, and then turned to look at her saying, "Oh. That's the style?"

"Yes."

He looked again at the painting and Toni cleared her throat. When he looked back at her, Toni, satisfied that she had his attention again, held up her hand, displaying the screwdrivers there. She said, "Let me grab my knife and I'm ready to declare war on your door."

"Knife?" Henry asked, as Toni went over to the table and started searching among the tools there.

"Palette knife. You won't believe how handy it can be."

"So you're sure it will work?"

"Well, I've successfully done it to my own door, so I have high hopes."

"There's always a locksmith if it doesn't work."

Toni had located her palette knife and turned to face Henry.

She said, "Let me guess, you see the glass half empty."

Henry smiled. "Let me guess--you see it half full."

"Darn right. Let's go open you door."

Twenty minutes later, after much "I don't think" and "Oh, almost" and some swearing after Toni rammed the business end of a screwdriver into the heel of her hand, ("Are you okay?" "I'm not bleeding, but I think I'm going to have a very colorful bruise.") Henry's door was open.

Unfortunately, there were also mysterious bits and pieces of the inner workings of a lock mechanism scattered across the counter of Henry's kitchen. Toni pushed them into a neat pile and then hopped up onto the counter. She watched as Henry opened the freezer and pulled out a tray of ice cubes.

"What's that for?" she asked.

He pointed at her hand and, finding a towel, popped a few cubes out and into the towel and handed it to her.

Toni gingerly rested the makeshift icepack against her hand, grimacing more from chagrin than from pain. "Thanks," she said.

"No--thank you. You getting injured isn't exactly the best conclusion to your day, I'm betting."

"No, not exactly. I'll be okay."

"Just keep that on it."

"Yes, Doctor."

Henry smiled and turned away from her. He pulled a coffee maker towards him and started to make a pot.

"Care for some coffee? It's decaf." Henry asked.

"As long as you put ice in it. It's too hot to drink it any other way."

"Sure." He pointed at a box sitting on the counter, saying, "I think there are glasses and mugs in that one."

"I'll look." Toni pulled the box toward her, opened it and started rummaging around in it, lucking out at the first try. She pulled the coffee mug out, turning it around to read the bold red lettering on it. She raised her eyebrows and read it aloud, her inflection rising at the end in disbelief, "'Accountants do it with double entry'?"

Henry snatched the cup away from her. She smiled at the faint tinge of red on his cheeks, but didn't mention it. He turned the cup over in his hands and he smiled. Affectionately, thought Toni.

Henry replaced the cup on the pile of odds and ends, balancing and stabilizing it, as it started to slide down. He said, still smiling, "Graduation gift, from my roommate. She has a rather wicked sense of humor." He looked up and the smile he wore broke into a wide grin. "She's a riot."

"So you're an accountant?"

"Yep, that's me, your friendly neighborhood taxman."

Henry leaned back against the counter across from Toni, crossing his arms.

"Oh, don't go stereotyping yourself."

Henry uncrossed his arms and re-settled the glasses on his nose. He said, "So what do you do, besides paint?"

"I film and edit documentaries."

"Wow."

"Yes. I love it."

"Why?" The smell of coffee started to rise from the coffeemaker and the sound of it dripping filled the kitchen.

"It's demanding, exacting work. It keeps me occupied."

"Exactly the way I'd describe working with numbers."

"Well, there you go."

"What's that mean?"

"Is it supposed to mean something?"

"I don't know, you tell me."

"Are you a workaholic, Henry?" Toni asked, with a smirk.

"I can be." He raised an eyebrow. "What about you?"

"Oh no, I'm not. I just get very focused, but I know when to quit."

"Good for you." Henry turned back to the coffee maker and shut it off. He grabbed the mug he'd placed back on the box and searched around until he found a tall glass for Toni. He filled it with ice cubes and then poured coffee over it, the ice cracking and popping from the heat.

He handed it to her, saying, "I have no idea where my sugar is. Sorry."

She took it from him, took a sip with a grateful sigh, and said, "Doesn't matter. I can drink it this way."

Henry smiled and filled his mug. They both drank in silence for a few minutes.

Toni set her cup down next to the pile of metal. She ruefully sifted through the pieces of the lock on the counter. She said, "You know, maybe next time we should call a locksmith."

"There won't be a next time."

Toni sighed and hopped down from the counter. "I need to get home. It's been a long day."

"Likewise. Thanks again."

"No problem. It was good to meet you, Henry Grubstick."

"And you, Toni Katznelson. I'll see you to the door?"

"Such a gentleman."

Henry rolled his eyes.

Toni scoffed, "Hey, I just paid you a compliment. Don't be so dismissive."

"Oh. Okay."

"And don't be a stranger. My door's always open."

"Hah. Very funny."

Oh, unfortunate choice of words. "I mean...you know what I mean."

He smiled. "Good night, Toni."

"Good night, Henry."

He shut the door gently and Toni smiled and then rubbed her eyes and sighed. It had been a long day, but it had also been a good day. She realized she was still holding the icepack and almost knocked on Henry's door before thinking better of it. Next time. She'd return it when she saw him next time.

Toni walked down the hallway, singing, "'Come on, come on and dance all night, despite the heat, it'll be all right.'"

Oh yes, definitely all right.

End.


End file.
